Rasmus Hojgaard hits three balls in water on one hole, throws away six-shot lead at Open de France

Rasmus Hojgaard began the third round of the Open de France with a six-shot lead. After two holes of the third round, his advantage was down to a single stroke after hitting three balls in the water on the par three at Le Golf National.

He spoke after his second round about his form being close to its best, provided he could cut out the mistakes.

“Over the last few tournaments I have made a lot of birdies, just had too many bogeys or worse,” he said. “I knew there was a lot of good stuff in there.”

Well, the 21-year-old made a huge mistake on the second hole when sending his tee shot into the drink short of the green.

Mistakes are often made, even at the elite level, but the key is not to compound them by following up a mistake with another.

Hojgaard inexplicably made two further mistakes. Teeing up for a second time, his third shot, he found the water once again. A third reload, his fifth shot, also found the water short of the hole.

He eventually found dry land with his seventh and was able to knock in the putt from 14 feet. In the circumstances, it was a decent eight.

But dropping five shots on one hole brought him back to the field and inexplicably he found water with his tee shot on the third.

He made bogey and when Paul Barjon made a birdie on the same hole the leaders flipped positions.